# Who's the most famous {living} writer of science fiction? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [July 6, 2024, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796 "2024-07-06T01:37:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/61 "2024-07-06T12:15:21Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m sure folks here can write an impassioned defense of the idea that fantasy and SF are so closely aligned as to be conjoined twins. Sorry, this ~~classicist~~ fuddy duddy aint’ buyin’ it. I do argue that almost everything that isn’t [mundane sf](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundane_science_fiction) is fantasy with the serial numbers filed off. Sufficiently advanced fictional technology is indistinguishable from fictional magic. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/62 "2024-07-06T12:19:01Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Margaret Atwood should place pretty high. Not as prolific as most of the greats, but _The Handmaid’s Tale_ had a recent TV adaptation that was well-regarded and presumably increased her name recognition. > > She has denied that she writes science fiction, saying that she writes speculative fiction instead… but that’s really just her idiosyncratic definition. I agree with Atwood. IMHO science fiction needs to have a science-based premise. A dystopian tale set in the future doesn’t make it “science fiction”, it makes it “dystopian fiction”. Orwell’s _1984_ wasn’t science fiction, either. Neither is most of what’s classified as fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/63 "2024-07-06T12:25:44Z")
It’s interesting that nobody ha mentioned Brandon Sanderson, who’s probably the most successful genre writer working today. And yes, he’s technically a Fantasy writer - but he writes Fantasy as if it were SF. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m going to suggest there are two factors. > > 1. The kind of world-building needed for each is similar, so someone whose mind is suited to creating one genre probably has solid professional-level aptitude at the other. George R.R. Martin once wrote that he loves both genres equally, and that sometime he’d think of a story and characters and only then decide whether to set it in a SF or Fantasy universe. The money quote was, I think, “It’s all just stories”. I think that’s more common than you think. I think the some of the greatest “genre” writers in history - people like Vance, Zelazny, LeGuin, Wolfe, Silverberg, Donaldson, Bujold - moved freely between the SF and Fantasy “fields” because they saw them as merely tools for writing the stories they wanted to tell. One story is better with space ships, another story is better with dragons, a third story is better with both. In the end, so long as the story is good, it doesn’t matter what label they put on it. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/64 "2024-07-06T12:35:54Z")
I was going to say David Brin. Wrote a lot of good, adventure “hard SF” in the 90s. Won awards. And, he’s alive (as you noted), and is an actual scientist. His stuff is not well known now, too bad! Some of the most imaginative alien races in SF. Currently, he runs a blog where he talks mostly about politics and plugs his books. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/65 "2024-07-06T12:37:35Z")
Somewhere, Isaac Asimov is still churning out novels. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/66 "2024-07-06T12:39:55Z")
I know who Neil Gaiman is because he is famous. Never read anything of his, but his name and especially the tv/film adaptations have been heavily promoted for most of my adulthood. My daughter was a big fan of Coraline and I watched a couple episodes of Good Omens around 5 years ago, that’s about all of his stuff I’ve been exposed to. Also know his name partially due to his marriage to Amanda Palmer, a heavily hyped musician I’m sure many here will brag about never having heard of either. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/67 "2024-07-06T12:42:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It’s interesting that nobody ha mentioned Brandon Sanderson, who’s probably the most successful genre writer working today. And yes, he’s technically a Fantasy writer - but he writes Fantasy as if it were SF. Huh. That’s a pretty deep and meta take on it. I see what you’re saying, but Sanderson definitely dresses everything up in fantasy garb. I suppose he might be science fiction in the same way that Star Wars is fantasy (and yeah, I see that case, too); but overall I consider him to be a prominent fantasy author. Which, now that I think about it, may or may not disqualify NK Jemisin. Without going into spoilers, I’m not sure how to categorize her most famous work; and her other works are definitely fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/68 "2024-07-06T12:53:30Z")
John Varley is still alive. It looks like his most recent book was published in 2018, so I’m not sure if that counts as “still writing” or not. I’m guessing he’s pretty well known in sci-fi circles but probably not much outside. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/69 "2024-07-06T13:03:14Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Huh. That’s a pretty deep and meta take on it. I see what you’re saying, but Sanderson definitely dresses everything up in fantasy garb. I suppose he might be science fiction in the same way that Star Wars is fantasy (and yeah, I see that case, too); but overall I consider him to be a prominent fantasy author. I’m currently reading _The Sunlit Man_. Read that, or _Yumi and the Nightmare Painter_, or the Wax & Wayne books, and you’ll see that that fantasy garb has been getting very thin and tattered lately. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/70 "2024-07-06T13:04:13Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m currently reading _The Sunlit Man_. Read that, or _Yumi and the Nightmare Painter_, or the Wax & Wayne books, and you’ll see that that fantasy garb has been getting very thin and tattered lately. Fair enough. I’ve read two or three of his books (something about Rainbow Magic, and some Old West fantasy), and he didn’t really grab me enough to read more by him, but I’ll take you at your word. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/71 "2024-07-06T13:06:45Z")
Madame P. thinks it’s David Weber, of the Honor Harrington series. My guess’d be Seth McFarlane, because of _The Orville_, or maybe Matt Groenig for _Futurama_. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/72 "2024-07-06T13:10:38Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > My guess’d be Seth McFarlane, because of _The Orville_, or maybe Matt Groenig for _Futurama_. I don’t think either of them fit the OP: > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > They can be media famous, but it has to rest on books, so George Lucas doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/73 "2024-07-06T13:38:21Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > The Dope is interesting, because there’s a ton of interest in science fiction here, but relatively little interest in any science fiction written in the current millennium I like books “written in the current millennium”, but I’m much more interested in “technology issues” books, not “social issues” books. Writers like Peter F. Hamilton, Neal Asher, Iain Banks, Alastair Reynolds, etc. Books that in the middle of the action dedicate ten paragraphs to describing the precise mechanism by which the sentient missle operates. I like the intricately imagined technology to be a main character. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/74 "2024-07-06T13:44:44Z")
Larry Niven ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/75 "2024-07-06T13:48:28Z")
Not long ago, or a lifetime ago if you’re not a geezer, the answer was easy, Isaac Asimov or perhaps Arthur C. Clarke among living writers, Jules Verne all time. Back then science fiction was a fringe genre. Now, if there were still bookstores, science fiction would take up as much or more shelf space as any other literary style. May as well ask who is the most famous romance novelist or author of books _For Dummies_. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/76 "2024-07-06T14:16:49Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I like books “written in the current millennium”, but I’m much more interested in “technology issues” books, not “social issues” books. Writers like Peter F. Hamilton, Neal Asher, Iain Banks, Alastair Reynolds, etc. Iain M. Banks is another of the ‘recently dead’ authors, otherwise he would have been my choice above all others. Even above Asimov and Clarke, (but not above LeGuin). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/77 "2024-07-06T14:17:00Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Books that in the middle of the action dedicate ten paragraphs to describing the precise mechanism by which the sentient missle operates. I get that. Not really my jam at all. But Banks, Hamilton, etc. are more recent authors, and not the sort I was talking about (note that prior to your post, none of their names had appeared in the thread). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/78 "2024-07-06T14:32:39Z")
Wait - isn’t Robert Silverberg still alive? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/79 "2024-07-06T14:34:49Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > > I like books “written in the current millennium”, but I’m much more interested in “technology issues” books, not “social issues” books. Writers like Peter F. Hamilton, Neal Asher, Iain Banks, Alastair Reynolds, etc. > > Iain M. Banks is another of the ‘recently dead’ authors, otherwise he would have been my choice above all others. Even above Asimov and Clarke, (but not above LeGuin). If recent means 11 years ago. It surprises me that Banks would be considered famous. Maybe in the UK? In the U.S. I doubt you would find one person outside of hardcore SF fans who every heard of him. Asimov and Clarke were famous outside of SF circles. If someone needed a talking head or a quick article in the realm of future speculation they were the ones to go to. Both published in mainstream publications like Playboy. Clarke hosted TV shows. I had no idea what Banks looked like until I looked him up right now. Clarke and Asimov are instantly recognizable despite being dead for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2024, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796/80 "2024-07-06T14:35:26Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Wait - isn’t Robert Silverberg still alive? Yes. But at 89, I was afraid to add his name to a list of living science fiction writers out of concern for invoking ironic fate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-most-famous-living-writer-of-science-fiction/1003796.md?page=5)